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At the Internet Archive, this is how we digitize a book—one page at a time, by hand.
(files.catbox.moe)
this post was submitted on 30 Jan 2024
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We so appreciate your efforts, but ya'll need more funding so you can start working smart and not hard. From the looks of things, I see no reason why page flips can't be automated there.
I just made a donation. Please use it to save this poor woman from the tedious task you've shown us today.
I think this is one of those things that seems like it should be easy to automate, but actually has lots of hidden complexity.
They probably don't use this to scan commonly available books, because for those you can just cut the spine off the book and scan the pages in a regular scanner.
This is likely used for books that need to be preserved and can't be damaged during the scanning process.
How do you make a machine that will always turn exactly one page and never tear a page, while adapting for different page sizes and thicknesses, and avoiding the static charge that can make pages stick together? All for less money than it costs to pay people to operate this machine.
Iirc they did experience with automation before and did get it to copy well...
But like you said, it would damage books pretty frequently. That's not what you'd want for old and fragile materials which are rather irreplaceable.
Vacuum!
We should start doing charity style TV ads.
"You, too, can help us build page turners and save the lives of dozens of archivists. Just £2 a month will allow Margaret to finally rest."
Man I got some friends who are archivists, and they'd love that shit lol.
They love their field, but it's a lot of mind-numbing work
I'd just use a bandsaw to cut off the spine and stick it in a document feeder.
Leave that poor woman alone you psycho!
If the book is not that easily available (old, rare), it's much better to keep it intact.
This must be how you get "binders full of women"